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Mikhail Myasnikovich, Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission, took part in the online meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), chaired by India, which took place on July 4 in New Delhi.

The theme of the summit was “Towards a SECURE SCO”. However, SECURE does not only mean “safe”, but is a symbolic abbreviation of the first letters of the following words and expressions: security, economy and trade, connectivity, unity, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, and environment. 

The summit was attended by the Heads of SCO Member and Observer States: the Republic of India, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the People's Republic of China, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Russian Federation, the Republic of Tajikistan, the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Republic of Belarus, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mongolia and Turkmenistan (as a guest). 

The heads of international and regional structures, including the EAEU, the UN, the ASEAN, the CIS and the CSTO were invited to participate in the Council of Heads of State of the SCO Member States as well. 

Following the summit, the New Delhi Declaration was adopted, enshrining the parties' updated approaches to key issues of the SCO activities and global challenges.

According to Mikhail Myasnikovich, interaction between the EAEU and the SCO is a crucial element of the integration agenda in the Greater Eurasia. This confirms the high demand from the business circles for developing a dialogue between the EAEU and the SCO, including in the context of creating a barrier-free economic environment, increasing the share of mutual trade settlements in national currencies and implementing joint projects in transport and logistics and other spheres. In actual fact, the EAEU and SCO Member States form the core of the Eurasian continent, and their relations largely determine the vector of the region's further development. 

The SCO includes India, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan, and, as of today, Iran, whose full-fledged membership was formalized at the summit. A memorandum on relevant obligations of Belarus in the process of joining the SCO was also signed during the summit. Given the fact that Armenia is the SCO partner country, all five EAEU States are actively involved in the organization's activities. Besides, the Eurasian Economic Commission and the SCO Secretariat have been in close interaction since 2021 within the Memorandum of Understanding.

The key topics of the summit included scientific and technical cooperation, which, as noted by Zhang Ming, SCO Secretary General, was becoming an increasing priority. He stressed that the Member States had approved a cooperation plan for developing artificial intelligence, which included research, development and widespread use of artificial intelligence technologies. According to him, a new cooperation mechanism, the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Task Force, is created under the Indian chairmanship to promote enhanced cooperation between the Eurasian States. The Republic of Kazakhstan will take over the presidency of the SCO in 2023-2024. 

It should be noted that the trade turnover between the EAEU and the SCO amounted to 270.2 bln dollars in 2022, including exports – 157.5 bln dollars, and imports – 112.7 bln dollars (increase in trade turnover - 40.3%, exports - 56.6%, and imports - 22.5%).